Kiss of Eternity
by Shy Goddess
Summary: A mysterious enemy has made it clear that she wants Serena dead. Serena harbors a secret that leaves her alone inside and crying. Will the scouts be able to help in this life defining battle? R&R please! DON'T read the reviews 1st, ENDING SPOILERS!
1. An Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Sailor Moon.

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Kiss of Eternity

Chapter 1

An Encounter

The ripples gradually grew as Serena stepped into the silver lake. Placing both feet into the water, she smiled placidly. She released the skirts of her dress, allowing them to get wet in the cool water. Looking up at the sky, Serena's eyes began to sparkle with the reflection of the stars. _The moon is so beautiful tonight_, she thought to herself. As she gazed at the night sky, then around her, she pictured the one thing that would make this moment perfect. She sighed, contented with her thoughts. Serena looked down to gaze at the water, stopping to see something glittering next to her feet. She bent down and picked it up, it was a pendant. The silver exterior was shimmering from the lights reflecting in the water.

"It's so beautiful," Serena whispered, awed by its stunning beauty. She touched it, smiling at the little treasure. "It's in the shape of an angel. The shape of hope."

Serena gasped as two strong hands closed around her waist. She turned her head around as far as she could without moving the rest of her body. Her mix of surprise and fear subsided, and was replaced with joy as she looked into the eyes of the man.

"Darien, I was just thinking of you!" she laughed as she put her hands upon his.

Darien whispered into Serena's ear. "Really, good things I hope," he paused, looking down, watching the hems of her skirts drift around her in the water. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"It was getting hot in the ballroom, so I decided to take a walk."

"Oh, yes, it's so nice here. It has been so happy and peaceful since you restored the Moon Kingdom."

"Yes, it has," Serena sighed, drinking in the atmosphere.

"Huh?" Darien shifted under Serena's hands; feeling a cold object in her hand. "What's that?"

He moved to lift her hand and looked at the pendant.

"Oh," Serena giggled. "I found it in the water, just before you snuck up on me."

"Oh," he gazed at it a little longer then whispered softly. "It's beautiful, just like you."

He bent his head to the side more and reached her lips. They both closed their eyes, wishing the moment would never end. Darien pressed a little harder against her lips before he moved away. He gently turned her around to face him.

He stared longingly into her eyes, "Serena,"

"Yes?"

"Serena…"

"Yes?"

"Serena!"

"What!"

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"You silly girl! Wake up!" her mother spanked her legs lightly, getting her attention. "You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry!"

"What!" Serena exclaimed as she stumbled out of bed and rushed past a blackish cat that seemed to support a rather large sweat drop. Mrs. Tsukino left the room promptly muttering something or other about migraines and a certain individual's sleeping habits. The cat rubbed its paw against a crescent moon shape on its forehead. Its intense eyes following the wailing girl as she tried to quickly change into her school uniform and gather school necessities. As she was piling the last bit of her unfinished homework and study guides into her book bag she caught a quick glance at the cat's unwavering stare.

"Luna, why didn't you wake me? Goodness, is that all you can do? Stare, stare, stare! Ugh! Sometimes I'd think you were a normal cat!"

Amazingly, the cat spoke back, "Well, I did try to wake you," Luna paused to stretch her claws in irritation. "All you did was turn over and have a lovey-dovey conversation with Darien. Then your mom came in."

With an annoyed grunt, Serena opened her door and ran down the stairs. She grabbed her usual piece of toast, stuffed it into her mouth, and tried to say "good-bye" to her parents as she left the house. She sprinted down the sidewalk, stumbling every few steps. _I'm going to be so late! Man, I know it's going to be detention hall again!_ Serena continued on, rushing across the street, not waiting for the walk sign. As she was half way across, a red sports car turned the corner almost hitting her.

Surprised, Serena stumbled back and fell on her butt. She whined loudly, about to get up and give this guy a piece of her mind. She looked at the guy standing over her trying to help her up.

"Why don't you watch…Darien!" Serena gasped.

"I'm so sorry Serena," he said, worry creasing his forehead, "are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay," Serena took his hand and stood up.

"What are you doing here, shouldn't you be in school?"

"Oh, no!" she gasped, picking up her book bag about to rush off.

"Hey, let me give you a ride."

"Okay, thank you!" they got back into his car and drove off to her school. Darien gave Serena a quick kiss on the lips and watched her rush off to class. He laughed at the thought of Serena always being late for school and headed for work.

"Hm, late again, Serena?" Ms. Haruna glanced up from her desk not sounding at all surprised.

"I'm so sorry!" Serena breathed trying out the old excuse once again. "I was up late studying, and I couldn't see my clock, it was so blurry..."

"Stop! That's enough of your tired excuses!" Ms. Haruna interrupted curtly. "You have detention, that's all there is to it, now _sit._"

Stumbling to her seat, Serena almost whined out loud that she had just gotten her fifth detention that week! The school day dwindled on very slowly, sucking the energy out of her. When lunch came around Serena was having an awful day: failing tests, getting yelled at by more teachers, getting teased, getting yelled at some more…

"Lita! Amy! I'm so glad to see you guys!" she called, waving to gain their attention. "You won't believe the day I've had!"

The two didn't bother to look up at her. Amy was staring at Lita with a sweat drop, while Lita obviously stared after another "He-looks-like-my-old-boyfriend-Fred" boy again. Serena joined Amy with a sweat drop as well but had to admit…he _was_ a bit cute. As she stared the thought was then smacked out of her head by an imaginary Darien yelling at her for checking out another guy. She shook herself out of it and looked at her two friends. Shaking her head at Lita and her obsession with the image of some boy named Fred. Sighing, she shook both girls out of their trances.

After recalling her day, they both showed her the appropriate sympathy, but Serena knew what was coming next. "Serena, even though I sympathize with you, it could have been prevented. If you had skipped the arcade and had just done your homework, none of your teachers would have yelled at you, and you would have gotten more sleep, and probably would have been on time, avoiding detention, and no one would have made fun of you…" Amy continued on not noticing that Serena was dazing off, and Lita had gone immature on her and was mocking Amy with her hands. Amy stopped to turn to her, "You should heed my advice as well, Lita. It would do us all good to be prepared for the finals, which may I add, are in just a few weeks!"

"Yeah, just a few weeks!" Lita and Serena chirruped in unison. "Then we will be in high school! Wow!"

They all laughed together and headed for their last class together as the bell announced the end of lunch. Gym wasn't that bad, at least they had Ethan in that class. He was so fine! They entered the locker room prattling on about random subjects. As they opened their lockers and took out their physical education uniforms, Lita looked up with a knowing grin. The two girls cast questioning glances at each other then back at her with the clear expression saying "spill" written all over their faces. Lita gave one last mysterious smile and turned to face them directly to give the full effect.

"Well," she began, clasping her hands behind her back, giving a little stretch, "I think Ethan might like me." Her two companions' jaws dropped, both completely speechless. "Oh, please say something," Lita's face creased with nervous agitation.

The two girls coughed then began to speak, "That's so cool! We're so happy for you! Isn't that _right_ Serena?" she gave her a sharp poke in the ribs with her right elbow, trying to be as discrete as possible.

Serena broke out of her shock, "Oh, oh! Yeah, that's right," she smiled reassuringly.

Lita frowned at their lack of excitement to her news. Her disappointment welling up inside. She almost turned to hide the hurt from them, but a smile crawled onto her face, "I get it, you're jealous," she grinned.

"Heh heh heh, us? Jealous?" Serena winced trying to look less guilty of the accusation, "No way!"

"Serena's right, we're just so happy we're speechless," Serena nodded in agreement and gave a side-glance to Amy, _she's so good at cover-ups, I know she likes him too. Poor Amy, I'd die if I didn't have Darien and Ethan liked Lita,_ _not that she does not deserve him of course._

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"Did you see her flirt tirelessly with him? I'm glad she was able to find someone cool." Serena said sincerely as they walked away from school. Amy had been kind enough to pick Serena up after her detention and walk with her.

"Yes," Amy replied softly.

Mmm, poor Amy, she is so lonely. Serena broke her train of thoughts as a flyer on the window of a baker's shop caught her attention.

Annual Baking Festival

Come volunteer by selling food and you'll get free food as a thank you!

The two girls silently read the rest to themselves. Serena was ecstatic, bouncing with joy, "Come on, Amy! This is the perfect opportunity to get free food! Not to mention that food makes people happy, and you look like you need it."

Serena regarded her friend's face with concern.

She nodded, "Sure, why not? It'll be good for my college transcripts anyway." Smiling she allowed the bubbly blond to yank her by the arm to the designated place. The flyer has said to go sign up below the radio tower by 6:00 pm on February 21, which was today! Glancing at her watch, Amy noticed that Serena was in a hurry for the soul purpose of food, rather than to be there on time.

"Wow! Amazing, this place looks great, not to mention smells good too!" Serena drooled making it almost difficult to understand her. "Where do we start?"

Amy giggled, taking her arm gently, leading her to a desk labeled _Volunteers, _"I knew that…heh heh."

"We'd like to sign up to volunteer…" Amy trailed off looking at the boy sitting in front of her. He looked up, acting surprised. His hand ran through his thick hair, "Greg, I didn't know you were going to be here!"

He blushed, "Hey Amy," smiling he looked from her to her companion. "Hi there Serena. How are you guys? It's been a while." Serena elbowed her with a big wink. She knew coming here would improve Amy's mood, but this was just excellent! She could volunteer and pig out with out needing to worry about Amy! Greg would keep her company.

"So, now, which booths would you two like to work in? I've got a sheet here to…" Greg carried off in mid-sentence and stared, "ummm…"

Amy turned to look over her shoulder to see what was so distracting. As she did she performed a genuine "anime faint."

"Serena, you don't eat the food now!" Serena blinked, noticing the two onlookers.

"Oh, heh heh heh!" she laughed scratching her nose, trying to look as casual as possible, not realizing the evidence was all around her mouth.

"Hm, anyway, here is the sheet of booths to choose from. Yeah, and I'll be working in the 'Bread Booth'." He bent his head down and blushed a little after saying that. Amy, however, noticed since his neck was turning red as well.

She giggled, "Oh, well, would you mind if I worked in the same booth?" she blushed a little, but stopped as she remembered, "Oh, wait, I think I should work with Serena since she was the one with the idea…"

Choking on the remaining food she was chewing, Serena jumped in, "No, Amy! You should join him! You'll have much more fun with him!" Serena winked and left the two where they were to take a look around.

Amy and Greg stared after her, speechless. Amy turned to the paper and signed her name next to Greg's under the "Bread Booth" category. Amy then took the liberty to sign Serena's name under the "Cheese Cake" column.

As she signed, Amy decided to start up the conversation again, "I might not have known you were here, but you knew we would be coming, didn't you?" Greg blushed at this but didn't reply. She laughed, "I knew it. I've wanted to see you too. Don't worry, if I could see into the future, I would probably have done the same thing. I know you're not stalking me or anything."

Greg looked up relieved and smiled. "Well, that's done," he said and placed the papers in a folder. "The sale will begin tomorrow at twelve o' clock. It would be a great help if you and Serena baked some food to sell tomorrow too. I know I'd love to buy some."

Amy blushed, this was a little too mushy, she wasn't used to this. "Okay, thank you for telling me. I'll see you tomorrow." With one last wave she turned and pulled Serena from all the food she was eyeing. Greg waved back, but as they slowly went out of sight, his smile faded and he thought of his true job at hand.

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"It's almost time. The princess of the fallen Moon Kingdom, and the _future _queen of the earth, will soon perish by my hand." The beautiful young woman mocked the word future as she uttered her sentences with venom. She crushed her little mirror she was holding with one bare hand. Her black hair fell to cover one of her eyes, and she brushed it out of her face with the same delicate hand. As her hand brushed it out of her vision, she felt it touch her face. She looked at her hand and saw a tear; it was mixing with the blood the glass had brought forth.

"Why am I crying? I don't feel pain…" she raised her eyes to look into the flames. They changed color so quickly there was no chance to see what color they had been before. They burned a deep red, seeing nothing at the moment. All she could see was the moment she would get her sweet revenge. That's all that mattered. The queen would pay.

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"Ah-choo!" Serena sneezed as they walked though the gate to the bake sale.

"Bless you! Don't drop the cookies!" Amy helped right the tray in Serena's arms as they approached the information booth to ask where their designated stands were. Amy laughed, "You know what they say about sneezing, don't you? They say that if you sneeze, someone is talking about you behind your back!"

Serena gave a shocked look, "Are you serious? That sucks, I wonder who it could be?" they looked at each other and laughed.

"I wouldn't worry about it, I'm sure it's just a silly superstition." Amy smiled reassuringly. Serena nodded in agreement.

"…Amy, do you think you and Greg will become anything more than friends?" Serena blushed a bit at asking this question. She knew how Amy was not that open about her feelings when it came to this type of subject. "I mean, well, would you want something more to happen? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."  
Amy gave a little smile, "I don't know, I really do like Greg, but I don't want anything to come between our friendship. You know how intimate relationships can sometimes ruin a friendship. I don't think I would want to risk that, but I don't know how he feels either."

Serena stared, shocked. She could not recall a time when Amy had confessed something like this before, "Oh. Well. Would you like me to find out? Ha ha! Serena the match maker to the rescue!" she was about to rush off and find Greg when Amy placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Please, don't do that," Amy pleaded her with big eyes.

"Oh, but Amy!" Serena was about to complain, but stopped when Amy gave her a look.

"I'm sorry, I know you love this type of thing, but I think this is a problem that should stay between Greg and me. Don't worry; I'll be sure to ask you for advise." Serena swallowed as she nodded, Amy's face looked like it was holding back a lot of pain. _Amy really likes him, she always has. Perhaps today will be a good day to find out where they stand with each other._

The two scouts in disguise stopped at the booth to ask where to go next with their goodies and where their posts were. As they talked with the secretary at the table they saw a bright flash out of the corner of their eyes. They turned around, surprised, and saw the three remaining scouts as well as Darien standing with a camera in his hands.

"Hey guys! You didn't tell us you would be here!" Mina said with pure, bubbly excitement. "I was wondering where you two had gone off too, but I figured you would be here, Serena, since this is all about food." Serena laughed as she bounded over to Mina to talk about all the delicious food. Raye shook her head as she looked up at Amy.

"Hey, Amy, what's up? You seem a bit quiet." Raye walked over to her and placed her hand on her shoulder.

Amy looked up as if breaking a daze, "Oh, I'm sorry, just thinking." She laughed to reassure her and they walked over to the rest of the group.

Serena was hanging onto Darien and was begging him to join her at the Desserts booth while she volunteered. Darien nodded and let her drag him away while they waved good-bye to the rest of the group.

"So, you guys are volunteering, huh?" Lita asked Amy.

"Yeah! I bet you guys could still sign up! I'm working in a booth over in the "Bread Booth" with Greg…" she stopped as all the excited gasps arose. _Oh, no. I shouldn't have said that, now Mina is going to give me her nudge, wink, and squeal. _Sure enough, all three came as expected. Amy blushed, "Okay guys why don't you try and see if you can still volunteer. I'll see you a little later!" she ran off to escape the madness of her friends.

"Hee hee," Mina chuckled as they headed to the desk to inquire about remaining posts. As they got their booth a thought popped into Mina's mind, "Hey, guys, don't you think it's a bit weird that there has been no sign of any negative vibes for a long time? I guess I'm not used to this, but I also kind of miss the whole 'saving the world' bit."

The other two nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it is a little boring when we are not kicking Negaverse booty! It is our destiny after all. " Raye frowned thinking about it, "Don't worry guys, remember, we'll have a lot of work on our hands in the future. Don't forget about the Dark Moon situation. They will keep us holding a barrier for a long time!" the other two laughed and agreed.

"At least we know we will win!" Mina giggled.

"What do you mean? We _always _win!" Lita interjected.

"Oh, yeah!" Mina giggled getting a bit hyper from all the chocolate cupcakes that she had been pilfering from the plate they had brought. Raye, now realizing this, took away the plate, and letting her violent nature take over, smacked Mina in the back of the head, leaving an impossibly large bump. Lita laughed at this and led the two quarreling girls to their selected booth.

"Yay, I'm glad we get to work together! Hm, I wonder how Serena does it. She just eats and eats, and never gets fat, one day Darien will be sorry he let her near that one cake. Heh heh heh." Raye laughed evilly at her own observation. The other two scouts stared with little crickets chirping in the background.

At this, the brunette leaned over towards Mina with narrow eyes, "I don't think you were the only one stealing sweets." Mina laughed at this and fell over with a big hiccup.

"Ha ha hic….ha…hic…ha ha haic," now Lita was the only sane one at the table.

"Hi! May I help you?" Lita coughed to hide her thoughts about her two companions from this potential customer. She looked up at the face and drooled, "Yes…you are dreamy…(coughs) I mean, may I help you?"

"Ahem, well yes, I'd love to buy a couple of those glazed doughnuts from you," Lita leaned over with glee,_ He'd LOVE to buy something from ME!_

"Here you are! That will be _one-ten_ please," he dropped the money into her hand and brushed it while doing so. She giggled madly. "So, are you from around here?"

The man replied uneasily at the girl's attentiveness, "Well, um, yes, I actually like to visit the radio tower a lot."

"Really…" she paused as she took a breath and rested her chin on her clasped hands. "Wow, that's so _interesting_. So, what's your name?"

At this he was very uncomfortable with the tone this young girl was using, "Um, Mark." He took a step back getting some distance, "Well, it was nice talking with you, um…"

"Lita," Her eyes were glazed and Mina and Raye had time to stop laughing and eat some popcorn while watching their friend look ridiculous in front of another Fred look-alike.

"Um, right. Lita. Well, see you around."

"Hee hee! Bye-bye! Nice you meet you! Come back again soon!" Lita called as Mark half walked, half ran back to the radio tower. "He loves me…"

The two audience members fell over after that statement and lay there for a while too stunned by Lita's ignorance to move.

At that moment Raye righted herself. "I sense a corrupted presence."

The serious expressions took over the three girls instantly and they all sat silent, looking into the crowd. They all were attentive to each person they could see. Then Raye saw her: a woman that seemed to reek with negative energy. Raye was about to take out one of her repelling charms but changed her mind to find out what its intention was. She remembered the first time she met Serena. She had injured her thinking she was some sort of demon when it was actually their new helper at the temple. She didn't want to make another mistake like that.

Out of nowhere power sticks appeared in their hands. As they continued to watch the potential enemy, Serena, Amy, and Darien came over. They all felt the presence too. Serena looked up at the figure, trying to size up what they were going against. She didn't look armed, but most never do until they are ready to strike. The woman stopped in her place feeling she was being watched and stared at nothing, seeming to concentrate only on her thoughts.

I know you can hear me, Sailor Scouts. You need not reveal yourselves. I intend you no harm, at least, not yet. The sailor scouts looked at each other, she was using telepathy! When she paused she turned her head right in their direction. _No need to hide behind there, I know what all of you look like. Queen Serenity, you will pay for what you did. Until then, it's nice seeing you again, so young, so helpless. How you will suffer. _With those last words she disappeared unnoticed.

The sailor scouts looked at each other, she was using telepathy! When she paused she turned her head right in their direction. With those last words she disappeared unnoticed. 

Who was that? She seemed so familiar…if only she hadn't hid her face behind that veil.

"Serena, do you know who that was?" Raye asked. "Didn't she seem… like someone we all knew?" she looked at the others a little bit shocked.

"Hm, looks like we get to be sailor scouts again…" the three girls sighed as they

thought of their conversation only a few minutes before. They sat worried, knowing that they really would rather be bored than have to risk the safety of the world and the people they loved the most. They all stared at Serena as she looked blankly at the ground, while

Darien embraced her in a protective hug. "_We always win!"_That was true, but something about this enemy...she could not help feeling there was something truly horrible coming.


	2. Secret Information

Chapter 2

Secret Information

As the festival drew to a close, Serena went to throw away the trash while Darien closed up the booth. He watched her go a little ways worrying about her. Just a few hours ago she was pigging out and having a great time. Then only half an hour into the volunteering did that woman show up. Since then she had been quite troubled, and had not made a full-hearted smile. Darien looked at his watch: three o' clock. He looked at the sky, it was such a shame; it was a very nice day. He shrugged it off and went about folding the table.

"Serena," she jumped, "sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, Greg! It's you." She tried to give a little smile.

"Serena, I didn't really come here to sell food and see you guys again, although it _was_ nice to see everyone. Well, anyway, I've been meaning to talk to you," he continued.

"Oh? Really? About what?"

"Well, You know that woman you saw earlier?"

Serena gasped, "You heard her too?"

"Well, no, but I've had visions of what's to come. It's not very clear, but I know enough to know it's really important."  
"Well, what is it?" Serena threw the trash away hurriedly, intent on listening.

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"Hey Darien," Amy said. "Where's Serena?"

"She went to throw away the trash," he looked over his shoulder and saw Serena walking back. Her eyes were puffy and watery; she looked as if she was about to cry.

"Serena, what's wrong?" Darien had a slightly high, panicked voice as she rushed into his arms and held him tight. "Serena, tell me," he looked hard at her, but all she did was keep her face buried in his shirt. Amy gave him a look and shook her head. He knew she meant not to ask, so he just looked down at his love with the utmost helplessness. He wrapped his arms around her to be as comforting as possible.

As Amy looked on at the scene she tore her gaze away from her weeping friend and looked up from where she had come. She saw Greg standing off a way with his back turned to them. He slowly moved to the booth they had been stationed at and picked up his bag. He then began to leave the festival grounds. As Amy saw this she ran to catch up with him.

"Greg, did you say something to make Serena upset?" Greg looked at her with moist eyes, but did not reply. Instead he looked at the ground unwilling to meet her gaze. "Greg?" worry was taking over her voice, this was so hard for her; to see one of her best friends crying, completely miserable, and the one person she probably loved was hiding something very important from her.

"I can't tell you," Amy stared, truly hurt, but did not pursue him any further. She watched as he turned the corner and was out of sight. This was supposed to be a fun and relaxing day. Yet, all that came out of it was new danger and heartache.

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Darien drove Serena home. Once they had reached the driveway he got out of the car and made his way to the other side to help Serena out. He opened the door and held out his hand, but she did not make an effort to move. Darien stared, not sure what to do or say. So he closed her door and made for the driver's seat.

"Serena, would you like to just go on a drive?" she nodded but didn't look at him. He hesitated. Looking at her, he realized that he was probably the best comfort she had, but he was not helping her at all. If only he knew what was wrong. That mysterious lady had upset her, but not this much. What had happened when she went to throw away the trash?

He shifted into gear and drove off to find a quiet place to stop and talk with her. He knew he could not stay there, her father would probably be very angry to see his only daughter sitting in a car with some older boy. After a few minutes he stopped next to the park. He could not help smiling, remembering how Rini had run away that one time and had sat on that swing over there. Rini had been upset that day, but she felt better after a while. She must be very happy now that she was back home in the future.

He knew fresh air would probably help his girlfriend, so he opened her door and held his hand out once more, but still she did not respond to his gestures. So he picked her up and carried her to a bench near the swings. Serena looked around as if just now realizing where they were. She gazed over at the swings, bowed her head, and cried softly.

"Rini…" Darien was again in a slight panic. She was crying again, and he didn't know what had happened to make her cry more.

"Serena, what's wrong? Do you miss Rini?"

She looked at him, "Well, yes. I know I will see her soon though."

"Hm," he looked at the sky, "Please…please tell me what's wrong."

"I can't, but don't worry about it. It's not important," she was trying to look brave. This was killing him, she was in so much pain, and he didn't know why.

He didn't know what to do, and he was suffering because she was suffering. Darien could not help himself. He turned to her and kissed her softly on the lips. He held the kiss for a long time. Serena cried a little more, but wrapped her arms around his neck to hold the kiss. When they parted, her eyes were sparkling, but no more tears fell. She smiled and looked out at the swing.

"This new enemy is going to be hard," she sighed, "but we will be brave," she looked up at him for reassurance. He nodded.

"Together, we can defeat anything," he replied. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was being brave. Trying to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders. He looked up into the sky, _I swear, Serena, I will always be there to protect you and help you in any way I can. _He glanced back down at her and noticed she had fallen asleep. He picked her up and gently sat her in the passenger seat of the car and drove her home. When he reached the house Darien did not want to get Serena in trouble for being asleep in some guy's arms, what would her parents think? So he bounded up onto the roof lightly with her cradled in his arms and opened her window. He set her on the bed as Luna looked at him questioningly from her pillow on the opposite side of the bed, but didn't say anything as she stared into the tear-streaked face of the sleeping princess.

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"I know you are in pain my little princess," said the elegant angel who was shrouded in light. "Do not fear, my love. The future is not meant to be known, by anyone. Nothing is definite."

"So, does that mean I can change it?" Serena asked urgently.

"You make your own future," the light slowly began to fade away.

"Please! Don't go, Mother!" Serena pleaded, she was still terribly confused and unsure. What was she to do? As the light vanished, the blue glow of the moon took its place. She looked down into the water, chilled. Her skirt drifted around her once more. Bending down she reached into the water, but the comforting pendent was not by her feet this time. No comforting angel. No hope. She turned; her prince would not join her this time as well. _I must be brave. I will need to lead everyone. I am their leader. To lead is to bear great responsibility. _Her eyes glistened as she looked into the stars. As she took a deep breath she finally sensed it: the feeling of calm. She knew what she had to do, she felt it, and everything would be okay.

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As Serena glided up the stairs to the Cherry Hill Temple the next day she missed a glide and tripped on a step. She fell to her knees, making them turn bright pink. She wailed loudly claiming the attention of many of the temple's visitors who were coming and leaving. Hearing the wail Raye rushed down the stairs to the meatball head's aid.  
"Serena, are you all right?" she was still very worried about her beloved friend, considering that she had been terribly depressed.

Serena stopped wailing and looked into her friend's eyes, "I- I think so…" she rubbed her knees and got up testing them to make sure it did not hurt to walk. She winked at Raye and skipped up the rest of the stairs. Raye followed a bit curious to why her friend was so bubbly today. What had changed in such a short time?

"Serena, are you okay?" she frowned wondering if the meatball head had finally lost her sanity and was forever trapped in that carefree world of hers.

Serena turned to her, but before she could reply Raye's grandfather came up with tea and muffins. "Hey Serena, long time no see! Would you like some muffins?"

"Yeah! Thanks Grandpa! Instead of tea, though, would you mind giving me some milk, please?" she smiled her hungry smile as she watched the fresh muffins roll around on the tray. He was taunting her, and he knew it.

"Sure thing! I'll be right back," he started to walk away.

"Wait! Don't take the muffins with you!" Serena raced after him and managed to swipe two muffins from the old priest before he swung the tray to the opposite side of himself and walked into the house.

"_Serena…_" Raye's voice was far from patient at this point, seeing the crumbs roll off Serena's cheeks every two seconds, "_What is up with you? Tell me what's going on, you really are completely different from yesterday!"_

Serena stopped what she was doing and brushed off the crumbs from her mouth. "I'm sorry, did you want a muffin?" she held out the muffin but her companion did not take it.

"What going on?" her voice was calm but searching carefully for any hints or lies.

"Nothing, the voice just scared me a little that's all. It troubled me so much that I got a little waterworky, maybe it's that time of month!" Serena gasped.

Raye scrunched her face, "Ehhhh, you're weird."

Serena just giggled madly in reply.

She stared hard for some type of fault in the story, but Serena was in too good a mood to detect anything wrong. As her close friend stopped laughing, she picked up the muffin and started to pig again. It really didn't make much sense about her mood swing, but who was she to pry if her friend was truly happy. She smiled, hoping that there was nothing at all to worry about.

"Do you want to go to the mall, I haven't been there since they remodeled!" Serena interrupted her thoughts abruptly.

"Huh? Oh, sure! Are you inviting anyone else?"

"Yeah! Sure! Let's invite the whole gang!"

"Yeah, that sounds fun!"

"Yup!" her pigtails swung back and fourth as she swayed her head to a silent beat that she was playing over in her head.

"What song are you thinking of?" Raye asked.

"Oh, "Swing Swing" from The All-American Rejects. It's a new American band. They are pretty cool."

"Oh, yeah, I do think I've heard of them," she thought for a moment. "I've got a song stuck in my head too, it's "Do as Infinity" by Fukai Mori." I first heard it on that tight anime, _Inuyasha_."

"Oh yeah! Wouldn't it be cool if we were an anime? They are so pretty and practically perfect looking?" Raye laughed and nodded somewhat in agreement still with the thought of how weird her friend was. "Oh, let's go call the others so we can go to the mall now, are you done with your duties here at the temple?" Raye nodded and led the way to her room where her phone was and started to dial Lita's number.


	3. Scouting

Chapter 3

Scouting

"Wow! I love this shirt!" Serena and Mina exclaimed together. They looked at each other with challenging eyes and made for the shirt and started a tug-o-war. The other three scouts stared in horror as the shirt started to stretch.

Raye jumped in just as the shirt made a sickening ripping sound, just before the actual rip would have taken place. "I can't believe you guys! Grow up!"

The two blonds had sweat drops and waved away invisible things floating in the air. Lita joined Mina at her side and patted her on the back like a little child. Mina threw her a look of rebellion and walked over to Raye, snatched the shirt, and ran for the changing rooms before Serena knew what was going on. However, she would not have noticed at all because she had already lost interest in clothing and was purchasing a slushy from the nearest food stand. Everyone shook their heads with annoyance and began their own browsing expeditions.

Serena sat down at a table and started to sip her slushy happily. As she drank she noticed a shadow cover the table.

Curious, she looked up, "Rini! What are you doing here!" surprised she gave a little jump.

"Shh! I'm not staying long. I just wanted to talk with you. If Daddy finds out I'm here I'm in big trouble."

She's gotten older! Almost a teenager now! How time must have flown. Tears almost fell at the sight of her future daughter, but she held them back.

"I can't really talk to my mom about anything right now in my present time. So I decided to come and confide in you. Mommy has been very stressed out lately. I don't know why, she won't tell me. I don't think anyone else knows either, I'm not sure. She is the only one who seems to be worried.

"I wish I could help, but I'm out of the loop. I think my daddy may know something, I just don't know what," her pink hair was now very long, and it fell over her face and hid her pained features.

"Oh, Rini, I'm sorry, your mother…I… tend to take the world on my own shoulders. I don't want others to worry, and I know your mother would never want you to worry," Serena leaned over and stroked her hair, _she's about my age now, _Serena realized. What if the Queen knows what will happen? How can that be, this threat comes from the future. She could not know what will happen. "Don't worry, Hunny," she tried to sooth her as best as possible.

She looked up and saw that her other friends were heading over. Rini noticed too. She got up, "I've got to go, no one else can see me! Pluto let me get by this one time, but only if no one else saw me! Bye…Mommy." Serena blinked; this was certainly a different visit between the two. As she stared Rini began to vanish, amazingly it was so discrete that it was hard to believe that she had been there only one second ago. It hurt her to see the girl go; she wanted to converse with the pink haired girl a little longer.

"Serena, do you still want to look around?" Amy asked as they approached the table. She shook her head, feeling a bit alone again. The others didn't seem to notice. "Okay, come on, let's go then." Serena took the blue haired girl's hand and let herself be led out of the shopping center.

:& & &:

Serena sat on her bed while she listened to the black cat's advice. Luna was telling her not to look so worried about this new enemy. She was reassuring her that she was prepared for any and all enemies. She was Sailor Moon. She would conquer all evil. Artimus happened to pop his head in the window at that exact moment and nodded his head in agreement as Mina opened her bedroom door.

"Hey, hey Serena, you're mother let me in," the blond grinned and sat herself by the surprised girl. "How are you doing?" her grin disappeared and was replaced with a concerned frown.

"Hey, Mina! I'm good, you guys really don't need to be asking me that you know. I'm dandy!"

'Dandy.' That was not too comforting for Mina. "Serena, I won't pry. I promise I won't, but we are all just so worried about you, especially Darien," Mina had no sense of cheerfulness, she was all business.

Serena only looked at her face not saying anything. Her stare did not waver either. Mina sighed and decided to change the subject to something more comfortable.

"I bought the shirt," she grinned. Serena jumped up and screamed her ecstatic surprise then begged her to try it on. So Mina went into the bathroom and switched shirts quickly. Serena squealed at how cute Mina looked and told her so.

Then a thought struck her. "Wait," her eyes narrowed. "How does it fit you so well? I swore I heard that thing rip and I know I saw it _stretch_."

Mina giggled madly, "Oh, I actually found another shirt just like it! The luck, we thought it was the only one left!"

Meanwhile, as the two chit-chatted, the two cats huddled in a corner and talked amongst themselves.

"How is she doing, I heard she was a little off yesterday after that telepathy incident." Artimus inquired.

"I think she is fine now, ever since she woke up this morning she's been back to normal." Luna looked a little concerned but seemed relieved that nothing seemed to be wrong. The white cat nodded and they started to talk of the new enemy.

"What do you think of this enemy?" he asked presently.

Luna shook her head, "I really can't say, especially since I was not there."

"Mina said she seemed familiar,"

"Yes, Serena said the same thing," Luna paused, "Darien is so worried about her, when I talked to him he told me that she did not tell him what was on her mind. I have not talked to him today though. I think we should tell him Serena seems to be alright now." Her companion nodded and they both jumped out the window deciding to walk to his apartment instead of having him called. They both thought they needed to discuss the new enemy a bit more privately.

"So, how is school for you Mina, aren't you excited? We will be in high school next year! We will be in the same school to boot!" Serena laughed, genuinely excited.

"Yeah! I can't wait to share school adventures with you guys, _finally_!" Mina paused, thinking, "Is Raye going to go to the same school too?"

"You know, I don't know," Serena sat and pondered.

"Oh well, we can just ask her later," Serena agreed.

Serena chewed on her lower lip a little, "You know, I've been thinking. Usually the enemy or their minions would have already confronted us at least. This new lady has not even made a move yet."

"Serena, it's only been a day," Mina replied, but tensed at the thought all the same. "Well, perhaps if you are really worried, we should live up to our name and 'scout.'" They both laughed and agreed.

Serena whipped out her communicator and contacted all the remaining scouts at once. "Guys, I think we should go and scout the city for that lady, or at least anything strange. It'd be better if we all transformed. It will be faster and easier to find anything suspicious."

"Right!" they all answered simultaneously. As she was about to close the connection she could still hear all the scouts call out their transformation phrases, eager to be able to help relieve Serena from her stress.

"Mars Star Power!"

"Mercury Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

The two blonds stared at each other for a moment and they both nodded, then Mina stood up. She raised her power stick and called, "Venus…. Star…. Power!"

Serena watched as her clothes changed and took a deep breath, it's time to be a leader. She got to her feet and raised her broach, "Moon…Crystal…POWER!"

The two bounded out of the window and stood on the roof trying to decide which way to go. "Should we split up?" Serena asked, but Mina decided against it, she didn't want to leave her friend alone in the state she was in, even if she didn't let others sense it, but Mina didn't mention that. They jumped to the ground together and ran down the road towards Serena's school.

:& & &:

The two cats made it to Darien's and told him about Serena's current mood. Darien was not satisfied. He still felt useless. He knew Serena was concealing something, but what was it? Luna's ear twitched and both the moon's on the two cat's foreheads glowed faintly. Darien looked up. They could sense that the girls had transformed, but why? Darien tensed; he could not sense anything out of the ordinary. _They must be scouting about, _he decided to himself. The cats must have thought the same thing because they settled themselves back down. He, however, stood up.

"I'm going to go to Serena and help her with whatever she needs my assistance with," Darien stated, and transformed into Tuxedo Mask. The cats nodded and watched as he jumped out of his window and landed perfectly balanced on the neighboring roof.

As Darien went on looking for Sailor Moon she came up behind him. "Darien! I was looking for you!"

"Hey, Tuxedo Mask," called Sailor Venus from a little behind.

"Hey, you guys," Darien smiled. "I was looking for you too."

Mina giggled at how she could sense mushy stuff coming on, "Well, I think you guys can scout this area. I'll go towards the radio tower since that's where that lady first confronted us," the two nodded and watched her as she leaped over houses and buildings until they could not see her anymore.

"How are you today, Serena?" Darien turned to her.

"I'm fine. This new enemy just has me restless, so I had everyone go out and look for anything suspicious," Darien nodded. He felt relieved; she was much more at ease at the moment.

"Darien, I want to tell you something," he looked over at her. As she opened her mouth to speak a big explosion behind her caused the girl to fall into Darien's strong arms. They both looked into each other's eyes then looked behind her, alarmed.

They both breathed out their tenseness as they just saw a bunch a construction workers tear down a building in a demolition site with a powerful crane. They both laughed a bit as Serena realized that she was still in his arms. She stood up and placed her arms around his neck.

"Darien," she looked up at him pausing for a second.

"Yes?"

A purple crystal grazed her cheek that next second. Serena jumped back shocked. She touched her cheek and felt the warm blood seep through her gloves, and slowly spill from the slash. Darien looked up and around to find where that crystal had fallen from. As he looked he sensed something behind him. He turned around and saw a lady floating in a red, dress, with slits on both sides of her legs falling all the way from the hips. He stared at her, not sure what to make of the situation. She was just floating there, not making a move. He then noticed her jewelry. They were all dark purple. He could sense the evil emanating from them. He knew that power! Could it be…

The woman tore off one of her earrings and threw it like a dagger at Sailor Moon once more, but Tuxedo Mask was quick and was able to get her out of the way in time. This was not the same lady that they had seen at the Baking Festival. She must be a subordinate of the mysterious enemy.

"Who are you?" Tuxedo Mask demanded.

The solitary figure did not answer. She responded by ripping off her other earring and threw it as well. He dodged it easily and saw it land snugly in the ground. Those things were sharper than knives! He glared at her. She did not make much effort to attack them, but he could tell she was very dangerous.

"Answer me!" he yelled. Sailor Moon was getting over her surprise and was whipping out her scepter. Tuxedo Mask threw a rose at her and it sliced through the soft skin of the enemy. The woman did not even seem to feel it.

"You are right, Darien, " came a voice that echoed through the air. "That is a drone of mine."

Darien turned around searching for the source of the voice. She was reading their minds! Serena raised her scepter.

"_Attack."_ Said the deadly, familiar voice.

The jewel wearer thrust herself at Sailor Moon as her bracelet slid off her wrist and into her hand, expanding into a sword. Serena blocked the move with her scepter and kicked at the villain's stomach. The villain moved away before the moment of impact. The Sailor Scout realized that she would need to weaken this monster before she could possibly dust it.

She threw up her scepter and it disintegrated into sparkling dust. Then she pulled off her tiara. It started to glow as she called out its magical phrase.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" she threw the tiara straight at the villain. It dodged it just in time and lunged at her once again. Once more Sailor Moon's scepter appeared into her hand as the jeweled sword almost sliced into her face. While the demon was distracted, Serena made another kick at the woman's side and made contact this time. As she fell to the right, the tiara had boomeranged back and hit her in the back. Serena silently cheered herself on. It did not kill the woman, but she knew that it wouldn't. It was too strong for that. Her tiara had lost most of its power, for some reason, during the time when Allen and Ann had arrived on earth. She was able to get back some of its power, but was never able to revive it completely. The woman began to back up again, and threw another earring that had just seemed to appear on her ear again. This one struck Serena through the leg. She screamed.

"No! Sailor Moon!" Darien yelled. He threw a shower of roses at the lady and rushed to his love's side. "Now, Sailor Moon!"

"Right…" she winced, but was able to stand up. "Moon… Scepter… Elimination!"

The monster tried to dodge, but was too slow with the repeating shower of roses and all her wounds. As she turned to dust, the couple heard the evil laughter of the vanquished creature's master.

"Did you have a nice work out?" more laughter. "I've forgotten how strong you are at this age. Well, no matter. You are still no match for me. Don't take me likely, my old _friend."_ The venom seemed to pour out with her words. "So, how did you like my creation? She was made from the flames of mars and the essence of the dark crystal."

Darien's eyes narrowed. _I knew it. That power I sensed from it, I knew it was the power of the dark crystal._

Serena gasped, "How did you get _that?_"

"Well, that's an easy answer," her voice paused, "it found me."

"What do you mean by that?" the sailor soldier gasped from the pain in her leg.

The voice only laughed as it faded away. The remaining sailor scouts were rushing over to the scene sensing the danger.

"Sailor Moon, you're hurt!" Sailor Mercury gasped. She ran over and tore some of her ribbon to tie around the injured part of her leg.

All the scouts began to cluster around Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, interrogating the two about what had just happened.

"Okay, guys, let's go somewhere a little better to talk," Tuxedo Mask interrupted.

The others nodded and they all followed Sailor Mars back to the temple. Darien picked Serena up to carry her back, instead of having her make the trip back on her injured leg.

"Darien, you are being such a worry wart," Serena commented. "You don't need to carry me. I'm fine, really. You have been so worried about me since yesterday. I'm fine." He looked down at her but did not put her down. He knew he was being over protective, but he could not help himself. Serena sighed; she didn't mind too much, she liked the romantic feeling of it. Smiling she rested her head against his chest as he continued to follow the others.

Darien set her down on a step behind the Cherry Hill Temple where no one would see them. The other scouts untransformed. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask did the same. Serena looked down to get a good view at the wound on her leg. The pain seemed to have subsided a little making her remember the cut on her cheek. Raye looked at the wounds closely while Darien sat by Serena and watched.

"I'll be back. We've got some medicine in the house," she left quickly to find the materials.

"I'm fine you guys," Serena reassured them.

The other girls just smiled. "So, what happened?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, we're sorry we were not able to come help you," added Lita as she pulled back her brown hair into a new ponytail. Serena smiled and told them it was okay. She told them the whole story when Raye came back and began to dress her wounds. The audience listened intently trying to help decipher anything that they could to help them figure out anything about this new enemy.

"Serena, did you say that she claimed that her adherent was forged from the fires of mars?" Raye asked edgily.

Serena nodded, "Yeah, I was surprised too."

"That is so weird," Raye looked up at the sky, deep in thought. "We did think she was familiar right? Well, maybe we know her as one of the Dark Moon enemies. You did say that she used the dark crystal too."

Amy spoke her opinion, "That is a possibility, but I don't think so. Everyone was destroyed, or was turned to the good side. Besides, we do know her, she has made that clear. She must be from the future."

"I wonder why she seems so familiar to us then," Mina interjected. The rest of them nodded.

Serena looked out of the corner of her eye. Darien hadn't said anything during the whole conversation. He looked deep in thought. Serena reverted her attention to the other girls and listened to them analyze the situation. As she listened she felt something soft brush against her leg. She flinched as she looked down.

"Luna!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm alright, it's only a little wound. I've had worse." She smiled at the cat. Luna jumped onto her lap and purred. As she looked up she saw Artimus jump into Mina's arms. Serena smiled, it was nice to have everyone here together. She leaned over on Darien's shoulder. He broke his gaze and glanced down at Serena. His glazed eyes began to focus on the girl watching the other teenagers discuss the matter at hand.

"What do you think, Darien?" Raye asked suddenly.

"About what? Sorry, I was lost in thought," he replied.

"About where we know the woman from," Mina piped in.

"Oh, I don't know. I was thinking, however, about what she said about how she made that adherent of hers. I was thinking that if she made it with Mars's flames, that perhaps she is staying on Mars."

Everyone stared. Serena sat up straight to see him better. The girls looked at each other turning over the possibilities. Raye nodded, she believed that was a very likely possibility. Raye's eyes darkened. How dare she desecrate her own planet? She felt it was a bit personal at this point. Serena noticed the looked.

"Raye, don't worry. We'll get her out of there soon." Raye seemed to come out of her angry thoughts and nodded.

"She's so scary when she looks like that!" Mina whispered into Lita's ear. Lita nodded her head fiercely, a sweat drop on the back of her head.

"Serena, what did Greg tell you?" Amy asked quietly.

The other girls all looked at Amy, and then fixed their gaze on Serena. Greg had said something to Serena? Perhaps that was why she was so upset yesterday.

"What? Oh, he did not say anything of importance." She looked up at all of them. "Really, he didn't. It doesn't mean anything anymore." Amy sighed and turned away.

"I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back," she jogged into the house and disappeared. Serena looked down, she was being so cruel, but they would find out soon.

The others looked at each other with curious looks, but did not say anymore about it. They picked up the conversation again, talking about the next plan of action.

"I think that we should just wait a little longer. We don't know anything about this enemy, and if we try and confront her now, then we may be at a major disadvantage." Artimus stated. The others nodded, knowing that was very true.


	4. Talking Statues

Chapter 4

Talking Statues

A few days later Amy, Lita, wal;ked with Serena to her house to do a little study session. They were laughing at a joke that was told in class before the bell had rung.

"I can't believe you fell for that Serena!" Lita giggled.

"I can't help it!" Serena laughed. Amy only chuckled quietly to herself. It was really funny. "I'm hungry."

"Okay, why don't we go to the fast food place across from the arcade then hit a few games before we _subject _ourselves to studying."

Amy put her foot down, "Nope, we are going straight to Serena's house to study for finals."

"I can't believe they moved it up to next week!" Serena exclaimed.

"I know, this catches me way off guard," Amy replied.

"Well, we are as best off as possible, with you around Amy," Lita sang out. Serena giggled, her mother liked to sing out that she got shade when parking. It's so funny when people sing what they are going to say. It's cute.

"Well, thanks!" Amy replied. "I think you're mom will have something cooked for you anyway, Serena. She always does." Serena nodded, it was true. Her mom was so cool. Always making her food.

"Mom, I'm home. I've got Amy and Lita here for the study session, remember?" Serena called as they walked through the front door.

"Yes, sweetie! I've made pancakes for you guys!" her mother called back. Serena paused, Rini loved pancakes.

"Serena, are you okay?" Amy asked looking at her face. "You look a little troubled."

She nodded, "Fine."

She led the girls to the kitchen for their serving of food, "Thanks, Mrs. Tsukino! This is great!" Amy and Lita chimed together.

When the girls finished their food they thanked Serena's mother again and headed up the stairs and into Serena's room. They sat down on Serena's bed and opened their books. They all agreed to read through the chapter and then discuss it together. After half an hour Lita and Amy decided to check on Serena's progress, they had both been done for fifteen minutes. Lita glanced over Serena's shoulder since her back was to them. She was still on the first page! Lita glanced at the girl's face and tried to suppress a laugh. Amy was not going to be happy about this, but Amy noticed Lita's private struggle and decided to see what was so funny. She stood in front of Serena and saw that she was sleeping! Not to mention that her book was still on the first page _and_ it was upside down.

"Serena!" Amy raised her voice to rouse the meatball head. " I can't believe you. We are supposed to be studying for our finals. How can you sleep at a time like this?" Lita sat back and sighed. Amy was so strict when it came to this stuff.

"Amy, cut her some slack, please," Luna leaped onto the bed from the windowsill. "The poor girl just hasn't been getting much sleep." Luna glanced at her with concern.

"Oh?" Amy's face relaxed from her "angry face," if that was even possible. Lita didn't think she really had an angry face. Her visage was always so calm. Even when she yells at Serena about her grades her voice is still soft and her features still placid. "What's wrong? It's the enemy, isn't it? I've tried to collect data with my little computer. I haven't been able to get anything. She really must be on mars like we suspected. If she was on earth, I'm sure I would have pin pointed her location by now."

The other two nodded and sat thoughtfully. Lita gently woke Serena so that their leader could listen in on the conversation. Serena awoke and started rambling.

"I wasn't sleeping Ms. H! I was relaxing my eyes…" she blinked, "Oh, hi guys. Heh, I thought I was in school." she gave a sheepish grin. "So, what are we on now? Math?"

Amy shook her head, "We are talking about the foe."

"Oh, good," Serena nodded still trying to focus.

"How are you Serena? You have been really tired lately, more so than usual," Amy asked.

"Me? I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? You know me, I'm always tired!" the others glanced at each other, but didn't feel it right to push.

"Okay, if you're sure you want to keep it from us, but remember, we _are_ here for you if you need someone to confide in," Lita said. Serena nodded appreciatively.

"So, about the enemy," Serena continued.

:& & &:

"I think I shall send them some more play mates to get a better feel for her fighting style," she threw in more particles of the dark crystal and laughed maliciously. "Soon, very soon."

She thrust her arm into the fire and let the flames scorch her. She withdrew her arm and examined it. "I haven't been able to feel pain for a long time. The dark crystal has done a good job of that."

She smiled to herself. She was crying again, however. _Why do I cry? It's been so long. All I need is my revenge, and it will all end. This pain the dark crystal can't get rid of. This pain in my heart. Shuichiro…_She let out a cry of anguish. She tried to compose herself. This pain _will_ stop. She raised her eyes. They were flaming red again. Most of the time they were red. She could hardly even remember what her true eye color was. She was always so angry.

"Neo Queen Serenity, your present will not exist for you. You will not be able to hurt me. I am going to take away your past."

:& & &:

"Serena, do you need a Kleenex?" Mina asked. "You keep sneezing."

"I'm okay, I think some dust may have just tickled my nose."

"I'm getting hungry, let's go get a smoothie!" Raye suggested.

The other four girls all agreed and headed for the nearest place and ordered what they wanted. They sat down and decided to talk a little before heading back to the temple.

"Hey, look! It's one of those statue people!" Serena called out.

"Oh, how cool, I have never seen one of those before. I wonder how they stand so still." Mina remarked.

"Hey, I dare you to kiss him!" Lita challenged Mina.

"No! That's not going to happen," Mina stated.

"Sh, you guys, I think he can hear us from here," Amy whispered.

"Really? Creepy. You can't even tell if he's listening or not, he just stands there," Raye remarked. "That's a lot of paint, he should save that money instead of wasting it all on silver stuff.

Amy agreed, "I think that would be very practical."

"Oh well! Whatever floats his boat!" Serena chirruped. She glided over to the man, pretending to be a statue, and gazed into his dark sunglasses. Not even a twitch of the mouth. He's good. "Hi, how do you stay like that for that long without even moving?"

As she expected, he did not move an inch. He was like one of those guards in front of Buckingham Palace. They never moved an inch, according to Mina, anyway.

"Well, so, how is the job coming along? Where do the people put their money? I don't see a hat or anything. Oh, in your pocket?" she leaned over and looked into his jacket pocket. "Nope, oh, I see! In your briefcase!" I don't think that is an obvious place for a money slot. People might put it in your pocket or something." She gave his pocket a poke.

"Okay, I can't stand it. Please, step away," Serena jumped and fell back a good few steps. He talked! How scary!

"Sorry!" she bowed a little and rushed back to her friends. They all laughed at her.

"How creepy!" Mina giggled.

"Tell me about it, I almost had a heart attack!" Serena was huffing from the shock. "I'm never doing that again."

The girls finished their smoothies and started to head off. Serena kept a wary eye on the "statue." He twitched a smile at her. She jumped again. So creepy, but it was kind of funny.

"Do you sense that?" Raye stopped and asked, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah," Mina said. The others echoed the same response. They looked about themselves.

"Over there!" Serena yelled.

A few hundred feet, above the living statue, was a group of enemies produced by their leader. "Come on!" Serena called. She led them to an empty ally and they all transformed.

"Hold it! I am Sailor Moon. Champion of Love and Justice! I will right wrongs and triumph over evil! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

The women just laughed. The other scouts joined Sailor Moon on the roof she was standing on and prepared their spells, ready for attack. Just then the group lunged at them all at once.

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!"

"I can't see anything!" yelled one to the foes.

"There are about ten, according to my calculations," Amy stated.

"Right," Sailor Moon replied. "Let's go!"

They all jumped off the roof and straight into the mist, leaving Sailor Moon to watch for any of them trying to make an escape.

"Mars Flame Arrow!"

"Venus Love Chain Encircle!"

"Supreme Thunder Crash!"

Several fell from the air. As the civilians realized what was happening above them they began to panic and run all sorts of ways. Serena used the Moon Scepter on the fallen five and they disintegrated before landing on a few frightened people. Five more left.

One of the adherents came out of the cloud of fog and rushed straight at her. She dodged it gracefully and turned to make a punch. She managed to make a clean cut on the right cheek. No blood spilled, it was replaced by dark purple ooze that fell slowly. The woman didn't seem to notice, however, and threw her necklace at her. As it flew through the air it turned into a spear. Serena realized this right as it was about to hit her. She tried to jump out of the way, but it had taken a good chunk out of her arm nonetheless. Blood spilled out of her arm, staining her white glove. She placed her left hand over it to try and slow the bleeding.

Sailor Moon looked up, but the lady adversary was gone. Serena tired to look around without causing much more pain than necessary to her injury. A sudden and sharp pain hit her back as she fell off the roof. The opponent had gone behind her and kicked her with both feet at the same time— full force. Serena fell off the roof and tried to breath. The force had knocked all the wind out of her. As she almost hit the ground, a man caught her.

"Tuxedo…" she tried to thank him but still could not breathe.

"Sh, it's okay," he tried to set her down on her feet, but she collapsed to a sitting position. "Are you okay? Can you still fight?"

Serena tried to say yes but was only able to manage a nod. Darien let her catch her breath before helping her to her feet. Then he helped her leap back up to her former position. The lady was waiting there, laughing. Serena had had enough. This was not going to happen. She would not be defeated by some lackey! Serena made a charge at the enemy and punched her in the stomach. Then kicked her hard in the side of the head. The drone fell back groaning.

"Moon Scepter Elimination!" she called with an angry force. "You're moon dusted!" with that the enemy turned into a pile of ash and disappeared.

The others had already weakened the remaining opponents and were ready for Sailor Moon to finish them off. She repeated her magical spell, leaving no trace of any remaining foes. Serena fell to her knees once again and breathed heavily. That wound and blow to the back were much worse now that her mind was not distracted. The other sailor scouts had their own wounds as well, but Serena seemed to have it the worst. They stumbled over to her and they all decided to go to Amy's house instead of the temple because it was closer.

:& & &:

"It's so annoying that they can float," Serena said, touching her sore back gingerly. "If they couldn't, I would not have had been hit by both feet! At full force any way…"

"It's okay Serena," Raye said sitting next to her on the sofa.

Amy came in with a first aid box and started to tend to Serena's wounds.

"Amy, why don't you take care of your wounds first, they look bad," Serena said trying to get her to stop fussing over her.

Amy winced from her own pain. "Mine are not my concern at the moment."

Serena sighed and let Amy bandage her up. Darien sat a little ways off so that everyone could be tended to. He looked around at all the girls. Mina looked pretty hurt too. Her face had many cuts and her lip was bleeding.

"Could I do anything to help?" Darien asked a little uncomfortable just sitting there, completely capable of helping.

"Sure, you could help out one of the other girls with their wounds," Amy suggested with gratitude.

Darien headed over to Mina since she seemed to have it the worst. "Owwwwwwww!" she cried out in pain as he put some anesthetic over her

various cuts.

"Oh, come on now, I know you can handle this," he said.

"Heh heh, sorry, I can't help myself, it hurts," she replied.

Darien chuckled to himself and covered the wounds securely. He looked up at Serena and saw that she was leaning back, probably sleeping, even though Amy was still not done dressing her wounds. _She sleeps too much._ Darien thought to himself, worrying a little again.

When he was done with Mina he moved on to Raye who seemed a little better off than Mina had. Raye didn't make a fuss either. Amy finished up with Serena and headed to Lita, but Lita refused. Saying that she was fine and could do it herself. She wanted Amy to take care of herself. Amy was worse off than Mina had been. She was so concerned for the others she forgot her own pains.

Amy sat on the couch and decided to tend to her wounds. Lita took some medicine and applied it on a cut. "Ah! My skin! It turned pink!" she cried out.

Amy laughed, "Don't worry, that's supposed to happen."

"Oh," Lita took a closer look at it. "Fuuuuun."

She gleefully applied more to the rest of her cuts, and was laughing at her "tie-dyeness." Darien sat back down next to Serena and put his arm around her shoulder. She didn't notice, all she did was let out a snore. The others let out a tiny sweat drop and then let it go.

"This enemy is getting serious," Amy said after a period of tired silence.

"I agree, we had better get this over with soon," Lita concurred.

"Do you think we are ready for that though? I mean, we are all sitting here, weak and injured, just from these cultured women of hers." Mina questioned.

Darien sat up and nodded, "I agree with Mina. This is the second time Serena has been injured pretty badly by only _one_ of these things. Her heart just isn't in this fight. Whatever is bothering her is hindering her skills."

The others looked at the sleeping girl. Darien was right. Serena was usually a klutz and careless, but she usually didn't get this hurt by only one enemy. Raye shook her head, her poor friend. She was going to help her out anyway she could, no matter the cost.


	5. Revealing

Chapter 5

Revealing

"How are you feeling today Serena?" her mother asked at the dinner table on a Sunday morning. "You've been acting tired and weak all this week."

"I'm fine, Mom. No need to worry about me!" she smiled as she downed a bowl of oatmeal.

"That's good to hear, Hunny," her mother smiled and replenished Serena's bowl.

"Thanks mom, I'm so glad that finals are over!" Serena declared.

"Oh, by the way, how did you do?" her father asked laying down his newspaper and stared at her.

"Oh, um, I don't know, yet," Serena replied truthfully. She was afraid of how well she did; she wanted to get into high school, but her scores might not have been high enough! Her parents would kill her.

"I see, well, make sure to tell us when you get the results," her dad said picking up the newspaper and then went back to reading.

Serena got up from the table to get changed out of her pajamas. As she changed Luna began talking to her while looking out the window. Serena pulled her shirt over her head and asked Luna to repeat what she said, apologizing because the shirt had muffled the cat's voice.

The cat repeated softly, "Do you think you are ready to fight this mysterious villain, Serena?"

Serena stopped what she was doing. She turned her back to Luna and stood there not answering. She saw the girl tremble a little. Serena took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Turing around, she nodded her head slowly, smiling.

"Serena, we can train a little before we actually try and find her," Luna suggested cautiously. She was afraid Serena would think she was capable of going to fight the enemy right now. Serena only shook her head.

"I'm ready," she stated evenly. "We should finish this now, before this wicked person hurts someone else."

"Serena, I'm sure we still have time!" Luna pleaded. The girls had told her about how Serena's fights ended up injuring her badly. She also had seen the wounds first hand. Luna knew she didn't seem emotionally ready either. Her mind was very distracted, much more than she let on.

"No," Serena said with a tone that didn't allow any objections to rise. "We should do this as soon as we can."

Luna sighed her helplessness. This was just like the meatball head, always getting herself into situations that she was not prepared for. Yet, she has always come through. With that thought she said a silent prayer for Serena to acquire the strength needed.

"Okay," Luna sighed, "I hope you are well enough to do this though."

Serena smiled. The smile was very sad. It seemed to cry out to Luna with the urge to divulge the sorrows within. She went over to the small cat and picked her up and hugged her.

"I'm ready for this, I'm truly ready."

Luna was disconcerted by this behavior, but was not able to think of anything to say. She let the blond set her down to go and gather with the other scouts.

The girls met each other near the temple. They knew Serena felt she was ready to take on this final battle. They stared for a moment than all at once they began to object. Serena silenced them with a piercing look and a raised hand.

"Guys, I'm ready to take this on," Serena said defiantly.

"Serena, you have not been yourself at all since the bake sale. We don't want you to be going to your doom or anything." Mina said.

Serena paused, "You guys, I know you're worried about me, but this pressure is getting to me," her tone had softened taking her friend's feelings into consideration. She was acting a bit reckless. They only wanted what was best for her. Her friend's meant too much to her. She should not treat them like this.

"Serena, before we go into this, will you please tell us what Greg told you?" Raye whispered into her ear, she did not want to put her on the spot again. Raye also knew that Amy would not ask her again. Raye felt that the information that was given to Serena was very important, considering it seemed to create a big effect on Serena every time it was mentioned, or even how she acted on a regular basis.

Serena shook her head, "Trust me, you'll find out soon, I promise."

Raye took a step back. She nodded her head and saw that Darien was coming up the stairs to join them.

"Darien, what are you doing here?" Serena asked, shocked.

"Raye told me you guys were going to try and find the enemy for the battle to finish this."

Serena looked at Raye, she didn't want Darien to come with them, but she nodded and kissed Darien on the cheek. They all transformed and stared at each other. Sailor Mercury brushed her blue bangs out of her face and took out her little computer.

"I'm getting a disturbance around the Tokyo Tower guys!" they all nodded and headed for the radio tower.

:& & &:

"Now what, Sailor Mercury?" Jupiter asked, tense with apprehension.

They stood wary as Mercury received data from her computer. The machine beeped frantically and Amy looked up, "Watch out!"

Amy crashed into Lita knocking her down just as a flaming arrow fell on the spot where she had been standing a moment before. Lita was trying to breathe, but was having trouble since Mercury knocked the wind out of her.

Everybody was now jumping here and there trying to avoid the shower of arrows. Darien threw roses in the air to counter the arrows of fire. Venus used her meteor shower aiming it towards the sky to do the same. Mercury got up from the ground to call out her attack.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" water rushed from her hands and extinguished several arrows, which were replaced with several more.

"What are we going to do? They just keep coming!" Serena huffed as she threw her tiara at an arrow, breaking it.

"I don't know!" Raye grunted, avoiding an arrow narrowly.

"Ahh!" Mina screamed as an arrow pierced her shoulder.

"Venus!" Serena and Lita cried together.

Mars, Mercury and Tuxedo Mask were gathered together to try and destroy arrows more effectively. It was no use, the downpour of arrows continued to fall relentlessly. They had to disband in different directions as a cluster of flaming, red orange arrows fell from above them.

"That was close!" Raye breathed. "Mina are you alright?"

She nodded and swallowed, "Nothing I can't handle."

Serena looked up and made a rush at Mina and was able to help her avoid another injury to her other shoulder. Mercury ran over to her and used her water powers to help cool the burn.

"I can't do anything for the hole, I'm so sorry," she said with great remorse. Mina only nodded, noticing that the arrow had vanished once it hit its target.

There was a blanket of fire that fell from the sky, turning the scenery red. The blanket crashed down on the group of heroes harshly. They all screamed out in pain as they were blistered from the scorching heat. Darien tried to shield himself and Sailor Jupiter, since she was the closest, with his cape. It did not prove effective, however.

They all lay where they were trying to regain their ground, "What do we do now?" Darien asked with much effort.

"I don't know!" Serena said, feeling the helplessness fall upon her. Some leader she was.

"Oh no! Here comes another wave of arrows!" Lita yelled.

None were able to move, they all closed their eyes waiting for the impact. Darien made it to Serena's side and tried to shield her, embracing her as he did so.

"I'll protect you even if it means my own life," he said faintly in here ear.

She looked at him, "Darien, Greg told me…" she screamed, cutting off her sentence and closed her eyes.

There was a blinding flash of light and then darkness. She opened her eyes and the sky was a magnificent blue once more. She looked up at the sky, no more arrows. As she continued to look she saw a glimpse of a silhouette with wings floating in front of the sun.

_Thank you_, Serena thought to herself, _whoever you are._ The figure vanished in the brightness. Serena had to remove her gaze from the sun for she felt she might go blind. Darien removed himself from Sailor Moon and looked around. The other girls were taking a look around to see what happened as well. They got to their feet shakily, and helped support each other.

"What on earth happened?" Mars asked.

"I don't know," was the only reply from the others.

"Sailor Moon, did you say something to me?" Serena looked at him, having forgotten that she had tried to tell him.

"Huh? Oh, no. Nothing." Serena breathed, _I guess it was not time to tell him anyways._

"Oh…" he carried off.

"That was horrible! We almost died. What a miracle." Breathed Mina, clasping her shoulder.

"What now, Sailor Moon?" Jupiter asked.

She took a deep breath, "We finish this."

"Right!" they all chorused.

They gathered in a circle and held hands, Serena clutching Darien's tightly. "We're off to Mars."

The group closed their eyes and waited for the sound off.

"In the name of the planet earth, grant me the power to teleport with the Sailor Scouts!"

"Mercury Star Power!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

"Moon Crystal Power!"

"Sailor Teleportation!" everyone cried together. A sphere of energy surrounded them. They flickered and vanished.

The young heroes shot through space straight towards the red planet. As they approached its atmosphere, great pressure squeezed the sphere that surrounded them, suffocating the group of young warriors. They looked at each other knowing this was not supposed to happen. This force must coming from the dark crystal. The planet was surrounded by its power. As the pressure began to become unbearable, the orb stopped, causing the group to loose their breath.

A voice spoke, "There is danger that lies beyond this point. The loved one has betrayed us. You shall not be permitted to pass."

"Who is that?" Amy asked.

Raye stood there and thought, "It's the planet!"

"What?" Lita said shocked.

"I know it sounds weird, but I can feel it. I think I remember my mother putting some sort of device in the planet to be its own guardian back during the time of peace during the time of the Moon Kingdom." Raye looked at the surface of the red planet. "I am Sailor Mars, Princess Raye. You will permit us to pass, in order to stop this evil."

There was no answer for some time, then, "Princess Raye? No, it cannot be," the voice seemed to be doubtful, but then changed its tone. "Yes, it is you. I cannot allow danger to befall you, Princess."

"You must! Or well will be in peril back on earth!" Raye exclaimed.

The planet thought for a moment, "As you wish, Princess."

The pressure of the world lessened, as it seemed to open a path and guide the six to the ground. As they reached the ground the shield of energy that surrounded them faded away. They looked around them, amazed at their view. It was pretty amazing, and must have been completely beautiful during the times of peace. Now, however, it was reeking of negative energy and frightening power. It felt somehow familiar though.

"Come on guys, let's follow our gut and find this woman," Serena said, sounding like a true leader.

As they walked along, they heard a laugh, "Finally, I thought you would never come."

"Who are you?" Serena demanded.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough, I dare you to find me," the voice paused. "By the way, how did you like my invitation?" the voice sounded very provocative.

"If you wanted to fight us hand to hand, then why did you try and kill us?" Raye demanded, feeling her temper rise.

"Why, fight _you_ my dear?" the voice sung out an amused tone. "No, I'm only interested in Serenity." The intonation had changed to poisoned ice.

Raye looked over at Serena, and saw that her dear friend shrunk back. She walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. "Don't be afraid, we can do this."

Sailor Moon smiled, "I accept your challenge!" she called out to the air with great boldness. The voice only laughed.

The party moved onward following the sense of power that hung in the air. As they moved forward everyone was able to keep up with Serena's determined stride, despite their injuries. Darien watched her walk, her blue eyes were full of purpose, there was no turning back for her. Her outfit was on the ruined side with many singes, but her spirit did not show discouragement. The other scouts looked the same. Serena was being a true leader, giving hope to her friends.

"Look!" Serena called out and stopped.

There was a circle of extremely large dark crystals surrounding a fiery pit in the middle of it. They cautiously walked into the enclosure. As they stood there they felt an enormous energy flowing from the fire. They stared into the flames and tensed. There was a dark form slowly forming in the depths of the flames. As they watched, the figure began to take shape. The beautiful woman stood before them with her face half covered once again. Her slender body poised in a relaxed position. _Her eyes are so red_, Serena noticed.

"Welcome to my little planet," the veiled woman said.

"What do you mean, '_your _planet'?" Raye said with a temper.

The woman only laughed and muttered some words under her breath and a beam of fire mixed with shards of the dark crystal flew at Serena. Mina jumped in its way and was knocked to the ground.

"Mina!" Serena sreamed. "No!"

"I'm…okay," she said softly and fainted. Sailor Moon leaned down and placed her head on her lap. A tear fell down her cheek, and she looked up with the utmost hatred for this person.

"Who _are_ you?" Sailor Moon demanded. Once again the woman only laughed. There was so much pleasure coming from that woman, so much pleasure from her pain! "What have I done to make you so angry?" her blue eyes contradicted the harsh red eyes. The woman was almost taken aback, but recovered quickly.

"What have you done? Nothing— yet," the woman spat, "and you won't be doing anything to me in the future! I'll take care of that right now!"

She shot out another blast and jumped into the air, her agility extremely graceful. The woman landed noiselessly behind Serena and shot a fireball at her. The range was too close. She could not dodge that. The air smelled of burnt hair and skin. Serena fell over Mina and tried to stand up. She grunted out her struggle and managed to gently set Mina's head on the soft ground and stand. She turned around swiftly and thrust her activated tiara into her offender's stomach. The woman recoiled from the pressure and even bled a little, but only laughed at her attempt.

She stared with disbelief that not even a cringe of pain escaped from her face. There was something wrong with this woman. The enemy jumped up and shot a shower of dark crystals at her. Sailor Moon rolled out of the way. She was going to put up a good fight; she would not stand there and wail. The others joined in and threw their attacks at the dark haired woman gliding above them. She landed with ease and tucked her hair behind her ears. She stood there with her arms crossed, her hands touching the opposite shoulder. They all paused, thinking that maybe they had actually injured her. The woman's eyes were closed and she seemed to be mumbling something.

Her eyes then opened with a flash and she released her arms, holding them out to her sides, aligning them with her shoulders. A purple wave flowed through her body and out causing a growing dome to surround them. The wave pushed out everybody. They were shoved by the transparent energy, causing them to leave a tail from where they had once stood. Sailor Moon was the only one not affected by this power. Darien tired to grab Serena and hold on so that they would not be parted, but the force was greater than his mortal strength.

"No!" Serena cried, as her grip with Darien was broken. She watched as Darien tried to force his way through, but it was no use. Her heart ached to see the sight of Sailor Venus— not even capable of getting away or resisting— being moved with the flow of the dome, causing her skin to rub raw and bleed even more. She was still unconscious and could not defend herself! How could this woman be so cruel? "Darien! Get Venus away from the dome, it's hurting her even more!"

He gave her a look of despair but knew he must get Mina away from the pushing dome. Serena looked at her foe with mixed emotions. This enemy was completely unbelievable. Her anguish was growing for her and her friends. Tears began to spill freely from her eyes. This was it, the moment Greg had described. Ignoring the attempts her friends made to try and break in, she raised her scepter with purpose and chanted the activation spell and shot out its magic. The woman blocked it with a dark shield.

"You will have to do better than that," she said, mocking her abilities.

"Tell me, please. Who are you?" Serena pleaded.

"Why, I'm the friend you will betray," she stated as if Serena were stupid.

"Will? So, you _are_ from the future?"

"Yes."

"What did I do?"

"You- you killed the love of my life," she stopped and looked down, a tear sprung from her eye. "You _killed_ him!"

"What?" Serena gasped with disbelief. With that the woman screamed out an attack and it flung from her hands right at Sailor Moon. She dodged it with a little singe to her hair.

"I wanted you to die for what you did! Then I realized, if I could kill you now, then I would be able to live with Shuichiro, forever."

Serena took in a ragged breath. That could not be true. How could she do that, it was not possible. She looked up to where this pained soul was standing, "That cannot be true!"

"Oh, but it is," she shot another mass of fire at her, and in Sailor Moon's state, taking the blow at full force. She was thrown to the edge of the enclosure, where the dome stopped. Darien was on the other side of the barricade calling to her. She could barley hear him, here thoughts were swimming with everything. How could she have killed someone? She betrayed her own friend? Greg's voice echoed in her head as well. Darien's voice whispered, "I love you." All of these things, memories with all her loved ones flowed through her mind. Then they all ceased. The only thought left was an American song she had heard from a few years ago. She looked at Darien, who was trying hard to get to her. He looked her in the eyes, smiling to see she was still conscious. Her wounds looked terrible from his point of view and indeed they were. She gasped from the horrific pain, but was able to sing the song to him. In her confusion, it was all she could think to do:

"So lately,

Been wonderin'

Who will be there to take my place?

When I'm gone,

You'll need love,

To light the shadows on your face…"

Darien started to cry, what was she talking about? Why was she singing that song?

"Darien, Greg told me…" she paused, trying to come to her senses. "I'm going to die in this battle."

"What!" he cried disbelievingly.

"He didn't know anything about the woman, his vision only showed that I would die. That's all he knew. It's been so hard living with that knowledge. Thinking of leaving you, the scouts. Never seeing Rini again…she won't even exist!" Serena started to cry as the words came out, gasping between sobs from the pain.

"Serena, you won't die! I won't let you!"

"I love you…" was her only reply as she ignored every burning pain in her body. "I can sense something wrong with you. It's the dark crystal! I think it is turning your grief into an evil form. You're not thinking clearly! It happened to my daughter once!"

"Ha, I know, Wicked Lady," she replied. "The case is not the same with me."

:& & &:

The room shined with rainbows. The white fabric was rippling in the constant wind that was blowing from her hands. The voices were far away. They were all calling for her to stop. She ignored everything but the task at hand.

The room glowed brightly, "Time teleportation. Take me to my beloved friend."

The first voice reached the door and yelled, "Nooooo!"

:& & &:

It is! You just don't know it!" she called. "I can sense you are a good person! You would not normally do this!"

"Mars Heart Flame!" she called out and began to throw it at Sailor Moon.

"No!" Serena removed her crystal from her bow and called out, "Moon Crystal Power! Please, heal her!"

The two forces collided and made a bright flash. The flames coming from the woman were too powerful. They broke through the white light and headed straight for Serena. Then all of a sudden there was a blinding light. The two duelists shielded their eyes. When they looked up the flame was gone and they were staring at each other.

"What the…" Sailor Moon said. She looked up and Neo Queen Serenity was floating above them both.

Serena was speechless. She watched as the queen began to speak, "Please, stop this."

The woman faltered and her eyes flashed a beautiful violet, but returned a bloody red immediately, "Neo Queen Serenity, so, you want to die instead of this little one."

The queen didn't respond to the statement, "Please, you must listen to me, Raye."

Serena gasped, what was she talking about. She looked over to the woman who made an amused grunt. She pulled off her veil to reveal the beautiful face of Raye Hino, but older. The other scouts gasped too.

"What's going on!" Raye cried, who almost fainted to see her face on the body of their enemy. The only thing different was the eye color.

"Raye, you must understand. I didn't kill your fiancée." The queen continued.

She scoffed, "Like I shall believe you!"

The future Raye then brought forth an enormous power and blasted it at Neo Queen Serenity. Serenity countered it with all her force and added a healing spell as well. _No. All that power… It will kill her!_ Serena thought.

"Nooooo!" Serena cried, more tears spilling. The others cried out as well, but it was too late. Serena was prepared to die, but she was _not_ prepared to _watch _herself die.

The white light blasted through the flames and the fire did the same. Each was hit at full blast. The queen fell to the ground from the air. Raye stumbled back, breathing heavily. Serena ran to her future self.

"Your Majesty!" she did not answer. She was not even breathing. The tears fell. So this was her future…

"That hurt!" Raye glared. The power the dark crystal had over her was broken, now they only had to clean out her system. She laughed, "Now it is your turn…" she stopped, trying to resist the vengeful thoughts; she could feel it was wrong.

"Raye, we are your friends," Serena was shocked. The queen had spoken. "I did not kill Shuichiro. The dark crystal had taken over his mind, when I tried to save him…. the crystal killed him. It was too much power for him to handle.

"When you got there, I know it looked bad, and then the crystal took over you. You disappeared before I could do anything."

Both Rayes looked stunned. The young sailor soldier began to cry, would she have to go through that pain in the future? Could they not change it? She looked down at her future self. "Believe her, she is your friend!" the older Raye was shocked to hear herself speak and looked in Raye's direction. Tears of loss fell now, the hatred gone.

"I'm so sorry, my queen…_friend._"

Neo Queen Serenity smiled, closing her eyes, and did not reply, "No…no!…" Serena bent her head over the pale queen, "Why…"

The dome vanished suddenly and Darien rushed over to the mourning Serena and his future wife. He was not sure what to do. His love was safe, but yet, there she was dead, in the arms of the younger girl. "Serena…"

A glowing light appeared and a girl stood in front of them. They looked up. It was Sailor Moon but different. "Serena, Darien, I am Eternal Sailor Moon."

They only stared at her, along with the other sailor scouts.

"I was the one who saved you from the shower of arrows."

"Oh, thank…you," Serena sniffled.

"Serena, we may be able to still save her," Serena looked up, not sure what to think. "Get up, please."

Serena stood, and looked up. She was surprised to see that King Endymion was behind her. "King…"

He cut her off, his eyes beginning to glisten with tears, "Hello, Sailor Moon."

"Now, Serena, repeat after me: By the powers of the Moon Kingdom I beg you to grant my wish and restore the life to your queen," Serena did so. "Good, now, we will have to hold our crystals out over the her."

Serena nodded but had one question, "Why is the King here?"

Eternal Sailor Moon smiled, "He told me what was happening, and knew I could help. Besides, this spell is called the Kiss of Eternity. To complete this spell, we need her Love to kiss her. It seems more appropriate for her husband to kiss her rather than his past self. " Serena merely nodded, it would be weird to see him kiss someone else, even if it _was_ her future self.

They spoke together, "By the powers of the Moon Kingdom I beg you to grant my wish and restore the life to your queen."

Their crystals began to glow; they both closed their eyes to concentrate their powers on reviving the peaceful woman lying there, looking like a serene angel. The king moved over to his queen and kissed her. Darien watched with apprehension. The king removed his lips from Serenity's. She did not open her eyes.

They all looked like each other wondering. They saw a light out of the corner of their eye and all turned around. The light was surrounding the older Raye. As it faded, they heard a voice.

"I have fully healed you my dear friend. Please, take care."

"Serenity?" the King called out.

"Yes, my love. It is I. I will not come back to you."

"Why…" tears stared to flow from his calm eyes.

"God has let me become and angel. I am now the _true _guardian of the earth, unlike before. I want to protect you, all of you."

"We need you here though!" Sailor Moon cried.

Eternal Sailor Moon held her hand out. "She will always be with us. This is the right decision," Sailor Moon looked at her, but did not say any more. She could tell this version of her had grown up a lot, to take this so calmly.

The transparent image of the queen appeared, "I love you, my King. I love you all. Not coming back to life shows you how much I do care for you. Please, do not be sad."

The world seemed to fade from them and suddenly they were in Crystal Tokyo. "I will now be able to keep this world from the type of dangers that it has faced in the past."

"Why don't you stay in the past and keep it from danger there? It would save us the pain." Sailor Moon said.

Eternal Sailor Moon answered her question, "To build our character."

The image of the angel queen rose into the sky and cast a barrier with her tears. Her wings shone in the sunlight. "Tell Rini I will always be here with her, and all of you. Now, it's time for all of you to go home." The image disappeared and the world began to blur. The group fell and Eternal Sailor Moon fell with them.

"It was wonderful seeing me at your age, at her age…" she said softly, tears fell as the sadness of the loss rolled through her mind.

The others were crying too, Serena would be a great queen one day.

"Good-bye, for now, my friends," she disappeared into her own time as the others continued to fall.

Finally, they all landed in front of the radio tower right when they had left. They all gazed at Serena. It was so hard to think that they would be losing their best friend, and Darien would lose his soul mate. Darien held her and kissed her longingly. The others did not eve make a joking remark at such a display they were. Life was going to be unbearable knowing what was come.

"Young ones," came the queen's voice. They all looked up, "you should not have to live knowing what you know. The future is not meant to be known. I will erase your memories of this whole battle; I will take care of your injuries as well. Farewell."

They all smiled, eyes sparkling. This was a kind act, but they felt they should not forget this. Serenity ignored their opinions, knowing what was best. As the spell was cast the last thought before the peace filled Serena's heart was that she must restore the Moon Kingdom before it was too late. Before she was no longer a princess, but the angel who would forever watch over the world.

:Kiss of Eternity:

:End:

Hi! I really hope you liked my story! I worked hard on it, please review my story, if you are going to flame me…. please be kind, I'm very sensitive! Oh, by the way, I do not own the song: "Wherever you will go" by The Calling either. Until my next story!


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